Corn sheller



I Sept. 13,.1932. A. B. DIETERICH CORN SHELLER inal Filed April s. 19272 sheets-sheei' m w. RN 4 Wm kw NN 2 WiTTTeF p 13,1932. I A. B. D'IETRiCH 1.877282 CORN SHELLER Original Filed April 6, 192' '2 Sheets-Sheet2 3 42 MW, *DQW ARTHUR 'IB.- DIET Patented Sept. 13, 1932 tenses Enron;or MQLINnQILLINQIS; AssIGNoR m DEEEE is ooiurelfir," or 1 MOLINE,ILLINOIS, A connonAtrion OF ILLINOIsa ori g'inaliappl icat'ion'filed spn-e, 192,7; ie a; 181 295; ma and this application fi1ed"J'u1y 31," alfii s f'lserialjNo. 382,347.

My invention relates to power driven 'corn shellers, and morveparticularly to'a cob stack ing mechanism forming a part of such shell-'ers."

In my copending application, Serial 3N0.

181,298 filed April 6,1927, of whichapplication the'present applicationis a division l disclose a power driven cornsheller-of im-' proved type.Briefly the iniprovements'so disclosed eliminate all of the bevel gears,Worm gears, etc., from the sh'eller' mechanism by mounting theinstrumentalltles of the sheller, in such a manner that the power shaftsare all parallel and drivenonefrom the other bydriving chains. Thesheller comprises a frame structuremounted upon suit able Wheels to-permitits ready transportationfrom one point'to-another. i; v a

The several drivesha-fts employed to operate the units of the shellerare mounted on suitableb-earings on'this frame Work in such a mannerthat the shafts are disposed longitudinally of the framevvork. Moreoverall of the shafts are parallel to each other. T

i The corn to be shelled 'is elevated bva suitable elevator-to the topof the sheller and discharged into theshelling barrel from which theshelled corn and "cobs areYdi charged on to the cleaning screens. -Thecleaning screens or ,shoes are disposed laterallysofthe frame Work andoscillated later ally of the frame WOIlI', to discharge the corn throughthe screen into a suitable conveyor, and .todischar'ge the cobs'frornthe'side of the machine into the cob stacker.

The longitudinalplacing of all; the shafts on the sheller, particularlyof the main power shaft to which the driving; belt from the prime moveris attached, makes the a strain imposedon the machine by the belt lieparallel to the axles of the suppo-rtingwheels andat right angles to theplane of. the supporting Wheels. This feature makes the anchoring of themachine an easier-matter,since the strain on the Wheels-is in the planeof'the axles and-does not'tend torotate the Wheels about their axles I:y l The oscillating of the cleaning shoes causes the machine tovibratefsomewhat, but since the shoes areoscillated a-lateral direction,

the vibrations set up in themachine donot i A tend to rotate the Wheelsand again'thean ch'oring of the machine is thereby made easier. The cobstacking mechanism, which forms. r

the subject matter of the instantapp'l-ication',

from the shoes are picked up by the stacking v mechanism andcarried awayfromthelmw' chlnep It is necessary to swivel'the stacking mechanismonthe machine so that When apile of'cobs hasbeenmade the stacker can bemoved and caused todischarge additional 7:

cobs to one side of the pile already made,

therebyinsuring thatthe stacker will notbecome clogged with 00138." f al i 1 I The sheller designed in accorda nce with the teachings of myabove mentioned co-pendlng application is rather Wide:lateral1y andsince the cob stackin mechanism projects eral-1 from-the mac inc, it isnecessary to remove this mechanism before the machine can be'transportedthrough farm gates, barn doors, etc. I have provided a-n -improvedmounting that attaches'the" colostacker to the shelling mechanism,amounting that can be quickly detached when it is necessary to removethe stacker from the; shelling mecha msm to permittransportation f thshells-r,

The stacking mechanism comprises pllma-rily a trough-like member alongthe'bot tom of which is disposed n a chain which is equipped with cleatsor flight bars forfpush' ing the colos along thetrough. i This chain 3is threaded around sprocket Wheelsdis'posed at opposite .ends ofthetrough, and' the s rocket Wheel adjacent tothe sh-eller is rivenxbya' suita'ble connection to a drive shaft on'the sheller. This driveshaft on the 'sheller is mo-unted para-llelto the other driveshaft' onthe shell er; and Ihave therefore provided a flexible connection"between the shafts,- a connection which not only flexes.

to compensate for misalignment of the shafts, but which is also readilyreleasable to permit removing the stacker from'the shelle-r mecha-nism.In orderto acquaint those skilled in the art with the teachings of myinvention, I have illustrated a. preferred embodiment of it in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevational View of thesheller with the cob stacker attached thereto;

Figure 1; and 7 Figure Bis a plan view taken along the lineB-BotFigure2. I I 7 ;Referring nowito Figure 1 in more detail,

it will be -:seen;that .theshelle-r, which s come pletely disclosed inmy .abo.vementioned icopending application; comprises front; and rear:axles" 10,0supported on thewheels 101, and supporting the frame work 102of the sheller. The. aforementionedparallel power shafts 103, .1041,-105, 1,06,,and 1107- are mounted on this frame work bywsuitablebearingsupp rts. and are disposedlongitud nally of the frameof thesheller; andiat right angles to the axles of the wheels .101. iThemaind-riving pulley 108 .niounted on the shaft 105 "receives the belt:from the prime 1mover, not shown, and serves to drive all of theoperating parts of the sheller mechanism through suitable chain and beltconnectionsbetween:the shaft 1O51and the other drive: shaftS,.:a-1l1asdescribed in-.1ny ,copending application. 1 The cleaning shoes are.disposed in the: housing 110 and. are connected to-ithe. agitatinglever111, which is oscillated about tits pivot 112 to oscillate the shoes andthereby clean the shelledcorn and separate it from; the cobs. 'lh ob aredischarged from the cle-a illg hous ng 110;.through theopening 1132disposed at the-irightgendot thesheller as seenin Figstacker.

irrel.

e'lhe: cob stacker; comprises, aufnnnel-ll-ike 'hopper. 10-which,receives the cob-s from gtllfi discharge opening 113 ofthe cleaninghousingI1'10, and. feeds them to :thegstacker conveyor. ;.The wstackerconveyor comprises ;a trough-like member 7 in thebottom of-"wh-ich aconveyor chain; Sj-travels ito carryjthe zeobs upwardly through thetrough.

' The cob stacker mechanismis lsupportediin a, aframesstrnctureconsisting of horizontal barsihextending laterally from the chassisand-.reeenforcedby'verticalistruts 2. l AV-pipe bar 3 is mountediintheends of thehorizontal supportingbars 1, and supported. on theintermediate portion of the pipe bar .is a swivel member 1- whichsupports thelower end ofgthe This swivel member is heldon the pipe-barby vertically extending pins .5 passing. through upper and lowerwearsJon -the swivel; member, by theremoval of which pins the swivel membercan be dismounted from i which the pipe bar. The swivel member is heldagainst shifting along the pipe bar by cotter pins 6 releasably securedin the bar. The stacker comprises a long trough 7 in which travels theconveyor chain 8,,the latter having the usualflightbars 9. .The hopper.10, which is supported on the rear end of the trough, directsthe cobsinto the path of the conveyor chain. @At'the''lowereend.oftheistackenfthe V conveyorpa'ssesoven a; sprocket wheel 11,and atthe upper end of the stacker the conveyor passes "over anadjustable sprocket wheel 12.

The adjustmentotthis latter Wheel is effected by sliding the twosupporting bars 13, between which'the sprocket wheel is pivoted,forwardly or backwardly relativeto the hanger bra'zckets 14 extendingdownwardly tromthe end of thetrough. g V

A bracket 15, secured to the end of the trou h f7, hasa-U-shapedbearingportion: 16

engages over aibearing boss 17 projecting .from the swivel, member 51.A; pivot bolt 18 passes down through alined openingsinthe upper andlower arms of vthe U-shapedbearing portion 16, and in thexbearingboss 17The pivotal connectionestabli shed bythewbolt 18, together with the.rotatable mou ing o the swivelmember ion the pipeban 3, afford auniversally jointedsupportflfon the lower end of the stacker, the'pivotbolt 18 permitting horizontal: swinging. -movement of. the stacker fromside to side: and; the swiveling action of the swivel member lpermittingrais ing and lowering ofthe stacker about the axis of the pipe bar 3.The stacker is heldiin any .adjustedposition throughthe medium of twochainsi19 which connect through-links 20. with each side of-thestackeradjacent its outerend.

These chains are adapted to engage: with ho'oksz21 mountedonthe mainframe of the machine at each side ofithe cleaning case, and by drawingin, or paying. out these chains the stacker maybe .raisedior lowered andswung to one side or'the other.

Thebracket or endiplate 15., secured to the lower end ofthestackertrough, has a depending porti-onwith which is formed integrally.a longbearing boss 23. I

Rotating within thisboss is a shaft 24 on which is mountedithylowersprocketwheiel 11 overwhich the conveyor chain travels.

Projecting from one-faceof this sprocket wheel are two spaced lugs 11supporting a pivot pin 25- on which is pivoted a knuckle :26,-constitutj- 'ing part of a=universal joint in the driving train tothesprocket. Pivotally connected to this knuckle on a pivot" pin 27,extending atright anglesto the pivotpin 25, is the forked end 28 ofasocket member 29. :This member has a-socket ofsqua-re cross-sectionextending knuckle 34. The latter has pivotal mounting on a pin 35,extending at right angles to the pin 33, and passing through the arms ofa yoke 36 whichis in turn secured to the end of the I cob stacker driveshaft 37. Thelatter shaft operation the swinging bearing bracket 39 isfixedly held in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 by an arm 41extending from the bracket and adapted to be fastened to the adjacentvertical strut 2 by a bolt 42. a

The sprocket 52 which transmits power to the cob stacker drive shaft 37is preferably of the friction slippage type, so that in the event thatthe cob stacker should become jammed, this sprocket wheel will slip andthus prevent breakage vof the parts. The hub 53 thereof, which is keyedto the drive shaft, has a radially extending web or flange 54 which isapertured to receive spring bolts 55, such bolts extending through theseapertures and having their ends anchored in a friction plate 56. Thetoothed periphery of the sprocket has an inwardly extending web- 57which is confined between the web 54 of the hub and the friction plate56. Thecompression springs 58 on the bolts 55 serve to press thefriction plate 56 and web 54 against the sides of the intermediate web57, thus establishing a friction slippage drive between the chain 43 andthe stacker drive shaft 37. By tightening or loosening the nuts 59 on athe bolts 55 the sprocket may be given any desired setting for slippingat a predetermined torque. A chain tightener 60, of shoelike form asshown in Fig. 3, is mounted on the projecting end of the pipe bar 3 forengaging with the chain 43, this chain tightener being held in anydesired position on the pipe bar by a set screw 62.

It will be evident that through the flexibility'of the two universaljoints 26 and 34 and the telescopic shaft connection 29 -31, the stackeris free to swing through a wide angle, either vertically orhorizontally, without interfering with the transmission of power to itsconveyor chain 8. When the machine is to be transported any considerabledistance, the stacker is preferably removed, such being easilyaccomplished by removing the pins 5 from the swivel 4,.which' permitsthe latter to he slipped off the pipe bar 3, and then separating thetelescopic drive connection 29 -31. At such time it is desirable thatthe sprocket 52 and drive shaft 37 be swung upwardly to increase theroad clearance of the machine. This is done by removing the bolt 42,then swinging the bearing bracket 39 upwardly around the pipe bar 3 tobring one of the bolt holes63 in the arm 41 counter-clockwise intoalinement with the bolt hole 64 (Fig. -1) in the horizontal frame bar 1,and then inserting the bolt 42 through these alined holes so as. to holdthe bearing 7 i bracket in its elevated position. j 7

While I have shown what I consider to be thepreferred embodiment ofmyinvention, it will be understood that such embodiment is merelyexemplary, and that numerous changes and rearrangements may be madetherein without departing from the essence of the invention.

. I claim:

1. In acorn sheller, the combi ation with a frame,of a cob stackercomprising'a conveyor and a sprocket wheel for driving the.

conveyor, a bar mounted on the frame, a swivel member on said bar, onwhich member the stacker. is pivotally supported by means of a verticalpivot, a drive shaft bearing pivotally supported on said bar, a driveshaft in said bearing, said sprocket wheel being capable of swingingmovement relatively to said drive'shaft, means for holding the bearingin alternative positions, anda driv-' ing connection betweenthe driveshaft and the sprocketwheel comprising a pair of unlversal joints and atelescopic connection.

2. In a corn sheller, the combination with a frame of a'cob stackercomrisin acon veyor having upper and lower sprocket wheels over which anendless conveying device travels, a pipe bar mounted on the frame, aswivel member detachably connected to said bar, on which member thestacker is pivotally supported by means of a vertical pivot, a driveshaft bearing pivotally supported on said bar, a driveshaftin saidbearing, said lower sprocket wheel being capable of swinging movementrelatively to said drive shaft, means for holding the bearing inalternative positions, and a dr-iv-' .mg connection between the driveshaft and the sprocket wheel comprising a pairof universal joints and atelescopic connection.

3. In a corn sheller, the combination with a frame, of a cob stackercomprising a conveyor and a sprocket wheel for driving the conveyor, abar mounted on the frame, a.

swivel member on said bar, on which member the stacker is'pivotallysupportedby means of a vertical pivot, a drive shaft bearing pivotallysupported on said bar, a drive shaft in said bearing, said sprocketwheelbeing capable of swinging movement. rela-' tively to said drive shaft,means for holding the bearing in alternative positions, and a drivingconnection between the drive shaft and the sprocket wheel comprising apair of universal joints and a telescopic connection,

one of said universal joints being substan-.

tially in vertical alinement with the vertical lltr pivot connecting thecob stacker and the swivel member."

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 26 day of July1929.

I ARTHUR B. DIETERICH.

